U-T Multimedia

A bad night at Qualcomm Stadium means the Chargers face an almost impossible task in trying to win their fourth straight AFC West championship.

The Denver Broncos pulled away in the second half and beat the Chargers 34-23 on “Monday Night Football” to improve to 6-0 and put a stranglehold on the division.

Since the NFL went to its current four-division conference alignments, no team has begun a season 6-0 and failed to win its division. In the modern era (since 1970), seven teams have done so, but none of them had a 3½-game lead, as the Broncos do over the Chargers.

The Chargers (2-3) spoke of the long season ahead and of how they will fight.

“It's slim,” safety Eric Weddle said. “But we're still in it.”

Of course, it was just last season the Chargers pulled off an unprecedented comeback from three games down with four to play to win the West over Denver.

This feels different.

“That team out there is a different Denver team, in the sense that they aren't going to fall apart,” said quarterback Philip Rivers, sacked a career-high five times. “That's a team that's here to stay.”

The Broncos won in San Diego for the first time since 2005. The Chargers had won their three previous meetings at Qualcomm Stadium by a combined score of 123-44.

After a second half in which the Chargers scored only a field goal and gained just 104 yards, the dynamics in the relationship have changed.

“It's big,” Broncos receiver Brandon Stokely said. “Anytime you come into a place like this on the road and win, it's big.”

Two first-half kick returns (93 on a kickoff and 71 on a punt) for touchdowns by Eddie Royal kept Denver in a game the Chargers were otherwise dictating. When Darren Sproles' 77-yard punt return gave the Chargers a 20-17 lead just before the half, Monday night's game became the first in NFL history in which both teams returned punts for touchdowns and one returned a kick for a touchdown.